The Schermerhorn & The Actors Fund Arts Center is Officially Open

Last Tuesday, residents, government officials and representatives of The Actors Fund, Common Ground, and the Center for Urban Community Services (CUCS) gathered in Downtown Brooklyn for The Schermerhorn‘s ribbon-cutting ceremony (check out our highlight video, embedded below!). The celebration featured remarks by the project’s numerous partners and supporters, including Common Ground Executive Director Brenda Rosen, Actors Fund President & CEO Joe Benincasa, Actors Fund Chairman Brian Stokes Mitchell, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Adolfo Carrión, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs Commissioner Kate Levin, CUCS Executive Director Tony Hannigan, and Abby Hamlin of Hamlin Ventures, LLC, who along with Francis Greenberger of Time Equities, Inc., made a gift of the land upon which The Schermerhorn is constructed. The event also featured performances by Schermerhorn residents Brandee Younger, Sheri Sanders, and Mark Frawley, as well as the Brooklyn Ballet, the building’s resident arts organization.

Co-sponsored by The Actors Fund and Common Ground, The Schermerhorn is a new affordable housing community for people in the entertainment industry as well as the formerly homeless and those living with HIV/AIDS (check out our earlier Schermerhorn story here). The Actors Fund Arts Center provides residents and community arts organizations with a state-of-the-art, affordable space for performances, rehearsals, films, exhibitions, and whatever they can dream up for this 2,000 square-foot space. For more information visit www.actorsfund.org.